A bridge connector made of PCB material has a first plurality of press-fit pins on one portion of the bridge connector and a second plurality of press-fit pins on another portion of the bridge connector. Within the connector is a set of signal conductors. Each conductor connects a press-fit pin of the first plurality of press-fit pins to a corresponding press-fit pin of the second plurality of press-fit pins. When the connector is attached to a printed circuit board (PCB), the press-fit pins extend into and engage corresponding plated through holes in the PCB. The press-fit pins exert enough retention force to mechanically couple two PCB frame sections. The PCB frame sections are electrically connected through the press-fit pins and corresponding signal conductors of the bridge connector. A bridge connector attached at each corner of an infrared touch sensor frame assembly allows the assembly to be solidly assembled from four sections of PCB: a top, bottom, left, and right PCB frame section.
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15. An apparatus comprising:
a first plurality of press-fit pins comprising more than five press-fit pins;
a second plurality of press-fit pins comprising more than five press-fit pins; and
a printed circuit structure having a first coupling portion and a second coupling portion, wherein a first plurality of through holes extends through the first coupling portion, each of the first plurality of press-fit pins engages a corresponding respective one of the first plurality of through holes thereby extending outward from a side of the printed circuit structure, wherein a second plurality of through holes extends through the second coupling portion, wherein each of the second plurality of press-fit pins engages a corresponding respective one of the second plurality of through holes thereby extending outward from the side of the printed circuit structure, the printed circuit structure further comprising a plurality of conductors, wherein none of the plurality of conductors is longer than two inches, wherein each respective one of the conductors extends from one of the first plurality of through holes to a corresponding respective one of the second plurality of through holes, and wherein the first coupling portion is a first rigid printed circuit structure, wherein the second coupling portion is a second rigid printed circuit structure, and wherein the printed circuit structure further comprises a flexible printed circuit structure fixed to the first and second rigid printed circuit structures so that the first and second rigid printed circuit structures can move with respect to one another.
14. An assembly comprising:
a first elongated printed circuit structure having two major parallel extending edges;
a second elongated printed circuit structure having two major parallel extending edges, wherein the two edges of the second elongated printed circuit structure are perpendicular to the two edges of the first elongated printed circuit structure;
a bridge connector comprising:
a first plurality of press-fit pins that engages through holes in the first elongated printed circuit structure;
a second plurality of press-fit pins that engages through holes in the second elongated printed circuit structure; and
a rigid printed circuit structure having a first coupling portion and a second coupling portion, wherein a first plurality of through holes extends through the first coupling portion, each of the first plurality of press-fit pins engages a corresponding respective one of the first plurality of through holes, wherein a second plurality of through holes extends through the second coupling portion, wherein each of the second plurality of press-fit pins engages a corresponding respective one of the second plurality of through holes, the rigid printed circuit structure further comprising a plurality of conductors, wherein none of the plurality of conductors is longer than two inches, and wherein each respective one of the conductors extends from one of the first plurality of through holes to a corresponding respective one of the second plurality of through holes;
a first plurality of infrared devices extending in a row along an edge of the first elongated printed circuit structure; and
a second plurality of infrared device extending in a row along an edge of the second elongated printed circuit structure.
1. An apparatus comprising:
a first plurality of press-fit pins comprising more than five press-fit pins;
a second plurality of press-fit pins comprising more than five press-fit pins;
a first rigid printed circuit structure having a first coupling portion and a second coupling portion, wherein a first plurality of through holes extends through the first coupling portion, each of the first plurality of press-fit pins engages a corresponding respective one of the first plurality of through holes thereby extending outward from a side of the first rigid printed circuit structure, wherein a second plurality of through holes extends through the second coupling portion, wherein each of the second plurality of press-fit pins engages a corresponding respective one of the second plurality of through holes thereby extending outward from the side of the first rigid printed circuit structure, the first rigid printed circuit structure further comprising a plurality of conductors, wherein none of the plurality of conductors is longer than two inches, wherein each respective one of the conductors extends from one of the first plurality of through holes to a corresponding respective one of the second plurality of through holes, wherein the first rigid printed circuit structure has a first edge and a second edge, wherein the first edge extends in a first direction, wherein the second edge extends in a second direction, wherein some of the first plurality of through holes are aligned along the first edge, and wherein some of the second plurality of through holes are aligned along the second edge;
a second rigid printed circuit structure having a plurality of through holes, wherein the first plurality of press-fit pins engages the plurality of through holes of the second rigid printed circuit structure thereby fixing the second rigid printed circuit structure to the first rigid printed circuit structure; and
a third rigid printed circuit structure having a plurality of through holes, wherein the second plurality of press-fit pins engages the plurality of holes of the third rigid printed circuit structure thereby fixing the third rigid printed circuit structure to the first rigid printed circuit structure.
13. An apparatus comprising:
a first plurality of press-fit pins comprising more than five press-fit pins;
a second plurality of press-fit pins comprising more than five press-fit pins;
a first rigid printed circuit structure having a first coupling portion and a second coupling portion, wherein a first plurality of through holes extends through the first coupling portion, each of the first plurality of press-fit pins engages a corresponding respective one of the first plurality of through holes, wherein a second plurality of through holes extends through the second coupling portion, wherein each of the second plurality of press-fit pins engages a corresponding respective one of the second plurality of through holes, the first rigid printed circuit structure further comprising a plurality of conductors, wherein none of the plurality of conductors is longer than two inches, wherein each respective one of the conductors extends from one of the first plurality of through holes to a corresponding respective one of the second plurality of through holes, wherein the first rigid printed circuit structure has a first edge and a second edge, wherein the first edge extends in a first direction, wherein the second edge extends in a second direction, wherein some of the first plurality of through holes are aligned along the first edge, and wherein some of the second plurality of through holes are aligned along the second edge;
a second rigid printed circuit structure having a plurality of through holes, wherein the first plurality of press-fit pins engages the plurality of through holes of the second rigid printed circuit structure thereby fixing the second rigid printed circuit structure to the first rigid printed circuit structure; and
a third rigid printed circuit structure having a plurality of through holes, wherein the second plurality of press-fit pins engages the plurality of holes of the third rigid printed circuit structure thereby fixing the third rigid printed circuit structure to the first rigid printed circuit structure, wherein a plurality of infrared devices is disposed along an edge of the second rigid printed circuit board, wherein a plurality of the infrared devices is disposed along an edge of the third rigid printed circuit board, and wherein the infrared devices are taken from the group consisting of: infrared transmitters, and infrared receivers.
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This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119 of provisional application Ser. No. 61/110,042, entitled “Connector Having Printed Circuit Board Portion”, filed Oct. 31, 2008. The subject matter of provisional application Ser. No. 61/110,042 is incorporated herein by reference.
The described embodiments relate to PCB bridge connectors, and, more specifically, bridge connectors for connecting two sections of an infrared touch sensor frame assembly.
Signals from the IR LED transmitters and receivers disposed along sides of the IR touch sensor assembly are utilized by a controller to determine the location where a user touches the screen. In
Formation of an IR touch sensor frame from one piece of PCB material has several drawbacks. The center cut-out portion of PCB must be discarded, resulting in expensive waste of PCB material. Due to the rectangular shape and unused center space, storing and shipping of such assemblies is inefficient. Furthermore, if a component (such as a receiver or transmitter) is damaged, the entire assembly must be discarded. A method of assembling PCB frame sections such that they can be mechanically and electrically coupled at their corners is desired.
A bridge connector made of layers of PCB material has a first grouping of press-fit pins on one portion of the bridge connector and a second grouping of press-fit pins on another portion of the bridge connector. The press-fit pins are typically stamped from a sheet of conductive copper alloy. Within the connector is a set of signal conductors. Each conductor connects a press-fit pin of the first grouping to a corresponding press-fit pin of the second grouping.
When the bridge connector is attached to a printed circuit board (PCB), the press-fit pins extend into, and engage corresponding plated through holes in the PCB. The press-fit pins exert enough retention force to mechanically couple two PCB frame sections. The PCB frame sections are electrically connected through the press-fit pins and corresponding signal conductors of the bridge connector. A bridge connector attached at each corner of an IR touch sensor frame assembly allows the assembly to be solidly assembled from four sections of PCB: a top, bottom, left, and right PCB frame section. Prototyping, shipping and repairing an IR touch sensor frame using four PCB frame sections is easier and less expensive than with a one-piece IR touch sensor frame.
In one embodiment, the press-fit pins are compliant pins that can be mechanically coupled to a PCB frame section by an assembly tool. In another embodiment, a press-fit pin is a snap pin with a spring-beam portion that snaps into a through hole of a PCB frame section. In another embodiment, electrical coupling between the bridge connector and PCB frame sections is provided by solder columns or solder balls, and mechanical coupling is provided by injection-molded location pegs. In another embodiment, a grid jumper having a flexible portion is used to couple two PCB components.
Further details and embodiments and methods are described in the detailed description below. This summary does not purport to define the invention. The invention is defined by the claims.
The accompanying drawings, where like numerals indicate like components, illustrate embodiments of the invention.
Reference will now be made in detail to some embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Example dimensions of a four-piece IR touch sensor frame assembly are 8.5 inches in a vertical dimension and 11 inches in a horizontal dimension. The frame assembly 15 is arranged in a window shape so that a screen can be disposed in the center of the frame assembly. PCB material construction allows frame sections to be under 5 millimeters in width. A PCB frame section of the assembly in
PCB frame sections are formed of layers of PCB material, with each layer having one or more electrically conductive plated through holes at one end and a matching number of electrically conductive plated through holes at the other end. Conductors disposed on each layer of PCB material connect matching plated through holes. In the described example, the PCB frame sections are formed of two layers of PCB material. Accordingly, the described example of bridge connector 24 is designed with a top layer and bottom layer to match the PCB frame sections. More layers of PCB material can be used, depending on the design of the PCB frame sections.
The design of the bridge connector 24 varies based upon the design of the PCB frame sections to be connected. The example of
Each layer of a PCB frame section may contain some plated through holes, and each layer of the bridge connector 24 will have a number of plated through holes arranged to match the plated through holes of the PCB frame section. In the following examples, the bridge connector 24 has groups of plated through holes arranged on a top layer and a bottom layer. In one example, the height of the assembly from the top surface of the bridge connector 24 to the top surface of the PCB frame sections is 1.92 millimeters. However, assembly profile of less than 1.2 millimeters is possible.
A routing pattern of signal conductors 20 are disposed on the top layer of the PCB body 25 of the bridge connector, forming electrical connections between plated through holes of the two groupings on the bridge connector 24. The signal conductors are typically copper foil traces of 0.7 mil or 1.4 mil gauge. Each trace is normally rated to handle up to one amp, but some traces are rated to handle up to five amps. In typical applications, conductors are no more than 2 inches in length due to the desired small size of the bridge connector.
Extending outward from the bottom side of the bridge connector 24 is a first plurality of press-fit pins 30 retained in the corresponding through holes on the first coupling portion 26 and the second plurality of press-fit pins 31 retained on the second coupling portion 28. One end of each press-fit pin extends into the PCB body 25 of the bridge connector 24 through a plated through hole. Each press-fit pin thus forms an electrical connection through the plated through hole formed on the first coupling portion 26, through a signal conductor, and to the associated plated through hole and press-fit pin of the second coupling portion 28. In typical applications, bridge connectors utilize more than five press-fit pins on each coupling portion.
Press-fit pins allow the bridge connector 24 to attach to PCB frame sections by engaging through holes on the PCB components. The press-fit pins also provide the retentive force to mechanically couple the bridge connector 24 to the PCB frame sections. Each compliant end press-fit pin provides 0.7 kilograms of retentive force. Press-fit pins provide a sturdy assembly so that a four-piece assembly can be assembled such that it is nearly as structurally secure as a single-piece of PCB. In typical applications, the rigid printed circuit structure of the bridge connector has no planar surface greater than 5 square inches due to the typical dimensions of PCB frame sections.
The spring beam portion 45 of snap fit pin 42, allows for easy, hand assembly. Bridge connector 39 can be snapped into the PCB components with considerably less force than a compliant pin. However, bridge connector 39 cannot be pulled out by hand because of the spring mechanism which causes the snap pin to lock into place after engaging the corresponding through hole on the PCB component. The spring-beam pin holds with less retentive force than the compliant pin.
Although certain specific exemplary embodiments are described above in order to illustrate the invention, the invention is not limited to the specific embodiments. For example, the described embodiments describe applications involving PCBs, though various types of printed circuit structures may be used instead. For example, the shape and size of the bridge connector, as well as the number and location of press-fit pins on the bridge connector depend on the PCB components being coupled together through the bridge connector and is not limited to the described embodiments. Similarly, the shape and size of the grid jumper, and the number, arrangement and location of the press-fit pins is dependent on the PCB components being coupled together and is not limited to the described embodiments.
Accordingly, various modifications, adaptations, and combinations of various features of the described embodiments can be practiced without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the claims.
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